Lawmakers return to St. Paul amid headwinds. Will there be consensus?

The Legislature will convene at the Capitol for the 2026 session Tuesday with the state facing heavy challenges, a new caucus leader, several new members and nearly two-dozen members already announcing they won’t be back in 2027.

This is for certain in 2026: Legislators need to wrap up their work by May 18 and all bills need to be bipartisan with the House remaining tied after several special elections.

Beyond that, what will happen during the session is yet to be seen after a rocky interim that repeatedly brought the national spotlight to Minnesota. But House leaders say they’re ready to work together to move forward.

House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) said she’ll continue the bipartisan attitude of “Team House” in the 2026 session.

“Going forward this next year, as divided as our state seems right now, if both Republicans and Democrats look for ways to meet each other part way and have a better understanding, we’re going to finish this year a lot stronger,” Demuth said.

House DFL Caucus Leader Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) said the House set a “good model” in 2025 with committee co-chairs looking for policies where the two parties could agree.

“We do our best when we try to set aside partisan politics and try and just focus on commonality,” Stephenson said.

Interim shakes up session

The events of the past seven months have brought several issues to the forefront for the upcoming session.

Lawmakers will gather in their chambers Tuesday for the first time since the June 14 fatal shooting of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin). Bookending the summer was the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis that killed two students and injured 28 people.

The interim also saw the start of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Metro Surge, which has resulted in the detainment of immigrants, widescale protests and the shooting of three people, two of which were fatal, by federal agents in the Twin Cities.

There were also new federal charges alleging the defrauding of the Housing Stabilization Services program and Medicaid autism program and the pause of new licenses for adult day care centers amid ongoing concern about fraud in Minnesota’s state government programs.

In response, Demuth and Stephenson say their caucuses will file bills on gun violence, immigration enforcement and fraud.

Legislators will also be heading into the session with the November forecast projecting a $2.96 billion deficit for the 2028-29 biennium and plenty of needs throughout the state in a potential bonding bill. Gov. Tim Walz is pushing for a $907 million capital investment plan.

Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska), co-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on the Sunday Take podcast that there’s potential for a bonding bill, but legislators will need to find savings in the budget to fund it.

Stephenson said he’d like to see the largest bonding bill legislators can pass this year because of the amount of infrastructure needs in the state and DFLers aren’t interested in playing politics with the bonding bill.

Hellos and goodbyes

After the death of Hortman, Stephenson was elected to lead the DFL Caucus and Rep. Xp Lee (DFL-Brooklyn Park) won a special election in September to represent District 34B. Stephenson’s election to caucus leader also led to a change in committee leadership, including Rep. Cedrick Frazier (DFL-New Hope) serving as the new DFL co-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

[MORE: New DFL co-chairs named for transportation, commerce committees]

The District 64A seat changed hands after Kaohly Her was elected St. Paul mayor. Rep. Meg Luger-Nikolai (DFL-St. Paul) won a special election in January.

Rep. Shelley Buck (DFL-Maplewood) ran unopposed in a January special election for District 47A after now-Sen. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger (DFL-Woodbury) won election to the Senate.

The wave of retirement announcements has begun. So far, 14 senators and seven House members have announced they’re not seeking re-election in November. Six House members have announced they’re vying for a Senate seat on the November ballot.

[MORE: List of members not seeking re-election]

Legislators are also seeking other offices in the state this year: three House members are gubernatorial candidates, two House members are state auditor candidates, two House members and two senators are congressional candidates and two House members are candidates for county offices.

Security

Plan to arrive with plenty of time this session due to new security measures at the Capitol.

Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order in January implementing weapons screening at the Capitol, based on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee of Capitol Area Security. The executive order doesn’t prevent people with a valid permit to carry from bringing a firearm into the Capitol.

However, even people with a permit to carry will not be allowed to have their firearm in the Senate gallery as part of a new policy. Additionally, firearms and dangerous weapons will be banned from the Senate Office Building, except for people with a permit to carry.

Committee deadlines

Committees will have three deadlines for the 2026 session:

• Friday, March 27 at 5 p.m.: Committees must act favorably on bills in the house of origin and committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other body.
• Friday, April 17 at 5 p.m.: Committees must act favorably on major appropriation and finance bills.

Per Joint Rule 2.03, the deadlines do not apply to the House Capital Investment, Taxes, Ways and Means, or Rules and Legislative Administration committees; nor the Senate Capital Investment, Finance, Taxes or Rules and Administration committees.

Religious breaks

The Legislature has two breaks planned during session:

• Eid: 8 a.m. March 19 until 8 a.m. March 20;
• Easter/Passover: 5 p.m. March 27 until 8 a.m. April 7.

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